DeepEnd

Most USTs are more similar than different. You shouldn't have a problem using one Fishman UST with another Fishman preamp. That said, it might not be worth it. I have a couple of suggestions: First a Fishman Aura imaging pedal. Depending on the model, you'll spend $200 or so for the Aura Sixteen on up to $350 for the Spectrum DI. Second, a different guitar. Takamine and Taylor both do a good job making guitars that sound "acoustic" when amplified. If you really like your DRS2 and don't want to use a stompbox you may have to simply live with the plugged in sound.

First, welcome to the Forum. Second, this should be in the Amp Forum. Third, forget any "best" lists you find online unless it's one from a reputable guitar-related magazine. Fourth, on a personal note, if you're in the St. Louis area I have a 65 Watt Fender SS amp that's gathering dust and I'll sell it to you cheap. It does a good job of reproducing Fender cleans and it gets loud. The drive channel isn't great. Check CraigsList or Guitar Center if there's one near you. Pawn shops typically have trouble selling amps and sell them cheap but quality varies and some pawn shop amps are junk. My main amp these days is a Roland Cube 80XL modelling amp that I found on CraigsList, and it does a fine job for the worship music I play, and has no trouble keeping up with a (reasonably sane) drummer. If you do go for a modelling amp, I'd choose Roland/Boss or Vox. Very straightforward to operate. The others I've tried practically required an engineering degree. See what's actually out there and get back to us. We'll try to narrow your choices.

A few years ago a guy who has since left our praise band told me he'd introduced himself to another musician as our "lead guitarist." I know how well he plays and it's a good thing the guy didn't ask him to sit in.

Would you prefer Harbor Freight?

Hi and welcome to the Forum. That's a cool old guitar. I have a Sakura 12-string from '73, but maybe you could start a new thread with an intro rather bumping a thread that hasn't seen action in 3 1/2 years.

Congratulations and Happy New (Cheap) Guitar Day. Hope the grandkids enjoy it.

That's a classical guitar, designed for nylon strings. It shouldn't have steel strings on it, they're not good for it. This site should have all the information you need: https://theguitarmedic.sharepoint.com/Pages/ConnClassicalGuitars.aspx. Let us know what you find.

Hi and welcome to the Forum. We'll help if we can but more info would help. What kind of strings does it have? Steel? Nylon? Does it have a model number? Can you provide pics?

And I'm going to repeat this: "Generally." There are exceptions to most rules but that's one of mine. YMMV.

Fender says it's a "12” Fender Special Design speaker" (https://shop.fender.com/en-US/guitar-amplifiers/contemporary-digital/champion-40/product-2330300.html) so yes, it's probably the same speaker you're thinking of.

Sorry but not "nonsense." I'm aware that some Fenders have Celestions installed; that's why I said "generally." But Celestions in Fender amps are the exception and there's a reason for that.

Celestions generally don't belong in Fender amps. They don't have the right sound. Look at Eminence, Jensen, maybe Weber (I say maybe because Weber doesn't publish specs and I don't like that). The Eminience Cannabis Rex and Swamp Thang come to mind. Neither is terribly expensive and each has fairly high sensitivity that will make the most of your amp.

Yeah, I'm not surprised either but I was hoping he'd come back too.

Thanks for the pics. Garrison sometimes used birch (it being a local Canadian wood) for backs and sides so I'd guess that's what that specific guitar has.

To be honest, I don't know that much about Garrisons. One cropped up in a GC across the Mississippi in Illinois a while back but it was a bit of a drive to satisfy curiosity. I've seen a few pics of the molded ''framework'' but I'd very much like to see any pics you might post.

Just about everything I've read suggests the molded bracing is Fiberglas. Based on the description I found of how Garrisons are constructed I suspected something similar to your findings regarding the neck joint. I also mentioned the possibility of plain old loose bolts before and if Jason is very lucky that's all that's wrong. In any event, $1200 seems very high for a reset. Thanks for the update.

First, Welcome to the Forum, Jason. Second, AFAIK your guitar has a bolt on neck. The bolts aren't for adjustments. From Music Center Filibe: Your issue may be as simple as loose bolts, which shouldn't cost near as much as a reset and may be a DIY project, but you could be in for serious expense. I have no idea what issues are involved with the Fiberglas neck block but that could easily account for some of the added cost. $1200 is still about twice the going rate for a reset on a normally constructed guitar, and bolt on neck resets typically cost less than that. I'd let Freeman get back to you after he has a chance to look at the one that's coming into his shop.

I've used a bass amp for acoustic guitar and it works well as long as you don't need effects. They have the advantage of being comparatively cheap.

Beyond the Katana Bob Dey recommended, Laney made something years ago that was supposed to be what you want but they're rare. What about an acoustic amp and a pedalboard?

Looks good so far. Keep us posted as the humidity allows.

We both know there are a variety of factors in play here. Part of it is the behavior of the amp, part is the way human hearing works, and part is the OP's imagination. Frankly, my guess is that the third factor is the one that's causing the issue.